Decoy



Nov. 27, 1956 c. s. RENWICK, JR

DECOY Filed June 15, 19 54 /NVENTOR CHARLES S. RENW/CKJR his A T TOENEY DECOY Charles S. Renwick, Jr., Richmond, Calif. Application June 15, 1954, Serial No. 436,733 2 Claims. (Cl. 43--3) My invention relates to decoys and the principal object of the invention is the provision of a decoy, which upon the Water, has movements and appearance highly intriguing and attractive to the live birds overhead.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a decoy occupying very little space before being set up to attract the game bird, so that a considerable number of the decoys may be packed into a relatively small container for carrying or shipment to the place of use.

Still another object of my invention is the provision of a decoy having component parts which can be supplied to the sportsman at low cost.

The invention possesses other objects, some of which, with the foregoing, will be brought out in the following description of the invention. I do not limit myself to the showing made by the said description and the drawings, since I may adopt variant forms of the invention within the scope of the appended claims.

I have devised a decoy comprising two loosely connected floats, simulating the head and body of a duck. The head float is weighted so that it is partly submerged, and therefore relatively more stable than the body float which is very light and lies on the surface so that it bobs around with every ripple.

The loose connection between the two parts permits a wide range of independent movement of each in all directions; and this diversity of motion, the dignified slow rising and falling and occasional nodding of the head, and the more rapid fluctuations of the body with the surface ripples, seems to be the chief element in firing the birds wish for a closer look.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an elevation partly in section, and indicating my decoy when floating on the surface of water. A portion of the body is broken away to shorten the view.

Fig. 2 is a plan view, portions being omitted to reduce the size of the view.

My decoy is constituted of two main assemblies loosely connected together when placed in use. The head assembly simulating the head and breast of a game bird is made up of an imperforate shell 2, furnished at one end with an eye or hook 3 for the attachment of a weight 4; and at the other end with an axial stem 6. With the shell 2 in water, the stem provides an upwardly extending shaft on which a simulated head 7 and neck 8 of a game brid is loosely engaged. The reason for making this a loose, rotatable connection is to permit easy assembly of the parts and a free rotative movement of the head on the stem as the shell 2 rises and falls and tips under the influence of the water and wind.

2,771,700 Patented Nov. 2?, 1956 Overlying the top of the shell nearly to the water line and below the lower end of the neck is a loose collar 9, formed conveniently of plastic material printed in simulation of feathers. It is assembled over the stem prior to the application of the head and neck. An anchor line 12 secured to the eye 13 in the weight provides means for fixing the decoy within a desired range of movement.

Attached to the head float by a loose flexible tie or bridle l6, looped about the neck at its junction with the head float, is a very light, broad float constituting the body of the decoy. The body is formed of a flat bag 17 of plastic or other water-proof material, partially distended and painted on the upper surface to simulate feathers.

Feathers 18 are caught in the folds of the open end of tha bag to simulate a tail for the decoy, and are securely held by the winding 19, which also tightly closes the bag to prevent entrance of water. Each of the corners 21 at the closed end of the bag is gathered together and caught in a knot 22 formed at each of the two ends of the bridle 16.

To more closely simulate the body of a game bird, the bag 17 is partly inflated; and to keep the weight down to the minimum, the inflation is accomplished by a partially inflated paper bag 23 placed in the plastic bag just before the tail feathers are tied in.

It will be observed that when disassembled, the parts of a great many of my decoys may be packed in a space relatively small compared to the large space occupied by only a few of the conventional type. This is of very great practical importance, because not only are numerous decoys required on a given hunt, but the locations are invariably distant from home so that transportation of my decoys in the number desired never poses much of a problem to the hunter.

It is also to be noted that since the hunter himself assembles my decoy from simple and inexpensive parts, the total cost of a desirable full complement or set of my decoys is drastically lower than a set of conventional type.

I claim:

1. A decoy comprising a head float having a generally upright stem, a weight connected to the head float to immerse its lower end well below surface ripples, a head loosely rotatable on the head float about said stem, a waterproof inflated bag constituting the body float of the decoy, and a flexible tie loosely connecting the two floats for movement of each in any direction relative to the other.

2. A decoy comprising a hollow generally spherical shell, a stem extending upwardly from the shell, a weight detachably connected to the shell opposite the stem, a head loosely rotatable on the stem, a waterproof inflated bag constituting the body of the decoy, and a flexible tie loosely connecting the bag to the shell.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

